[nvidia] GUI Scaling does not work with multiple monitors

[Sebastian Heiden]

When changing the GUI scaling factor on a multiple monitor setup the monitors all just go blank and then revert to the previous values.

Changing the scaling factor manually in the config file does not work either, it causes all monitors to go blank as well.

I observed that it is trying to set a mode "null", here is the line from the Xorg log:
`NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "NULL"`

I have initially noticed this after upgrading from Ubuntu 19.10 to 20.04 and my screens would all be just blank after the system has booted up. I had to delete the monitor configuration files manually via SSH to get a screen output in xorg again.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu14
Uname: Linux 5.6.2-050602-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0000.2a.00.0: Error: [Errno 21] Ist ein Verzeichnis: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0000:2a:00.0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.suspend: suspend hibernate resume
.proc.driver.nvidia.suspend_depth: default modeset uvm
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 440.64 Fri Feb 21 01:17:26 UTC 2020
 GCC version: gcc version 9.3.0 (Ubuntu 9.3.0-8ubuntu1)
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu22
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Keine Berechtigung: '/var/log/boot.log'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Apr 5 15:00:49 2020
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: focal
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.3.0-45-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.4.0-21-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.6.2-050602-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [TITAN Xp] [10de:1b02] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [TITAN Xp] [10de:123e]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-09-06 (576 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180725)
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.6.2-050602-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/01/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: P1.78
dmi.board.name: X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3
dmi.board.vendor: ASRock
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrP1.78:bd11/01/2019:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnASRock:rnX570PhantomGaming-ITX/TB3:rvr:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.family: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.sku: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.100-4
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 20.0.2-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 20.0.2-1ubuntu1
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers-* N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.7-2ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20190815-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1
---
ProblemType: Bug
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0000.2a.00.0: Error: [Errno 21] Ist ein Verzeichnis: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0000:2a:00.0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.suspend: suspend hibernate resume
.proc.driver.nvidia.suspend_depth: default modeset uvm
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 440.64 Fri Feb 21 01:17:26 UTC 2020
 GCC version: gcc version 9.3.0 (Ubuntu 9.3.0-8ubuntu1)
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu22
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Keine Berechtigung: '/var/log/boot.log'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: focal
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.3.0-45-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.4.0-21-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia, 440.64, 5.6.2-050602-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [TITAN Xp] [10de:1b02] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: NVIDIA Corporation GP102 [TITAN Xp] [10de:123e]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-09-06 (576 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180725)
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
Package: xorg 1:7.7+19ubuntu14
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.6.2-050602-generic root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
Tags: third-party-packages focal possible-manual-nvidia-install ubuntu
Uname: Linux 5.6.2-050602-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dialout dip libvirt lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 11/01/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: P1.78
dmi.board.name: X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3
dmi.board.vendor: ASRock
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrP1.78:bd11/01/2019:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnASRock:rnX570PhantomGaming-ITX/TB3:rvr:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.family: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.sku: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.100-4
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 20.0.2-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 20.0.2-1ubuntu1
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers-* N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.20.7-2ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20190815-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.16-1

[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

apport information

[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

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[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

Xorg.0.log containing the error

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report. The issue looks similar to bug #1869885

What scaling factor do you use? Do you have the experimental fractional scaling enabled?

Could you add your 'journalctl' log from a session where you had the issue?

[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

I don't think this issue is similar to the aforementioned issue. I was using the scaling factor 2, but other scaling factors different than 2 don't work either, except 1.
And no, I do not have the experimental fractional scaling enabled, but it didn't work either.

I have attached the journalctl log from a freshly booted session, in which I have triggered the issue by setting the scaling factor to 2 in the settings menu, which causes the screens to go blank and return to the previous settings after a couple seconds.

To find the place at which it happens just search for `NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "NULL"` in the log

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Sorry copy/paste error for the bug reference, bug #1870758

[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

Yeah, bug #1870922 probably has the same cause.

[Sebastian Heiden (seb-heiden)]

I mean bug #1870758

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 1870758, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.